Registered Sex Offender Charged in Deaths of 3 Cleveland Women That Shocked Police

Michael Madison, 35, was charged with three counts of aggravated murder and three counts of kidnapping

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Image: Michael Madison
Cuyahoga County Sheriff Department / AP

Michael Madison

A Cleveland man was charged Monday in the murders of three women whose bodies were found murdered and decomposed, leaving police to piece together why they were killed.

Michael Madison, 35, a convicted sex offender was charged with three counts of aggravated murder and three counts of kidnapping in the deaths of three women who were found wrapped in plastic on Friday.

At a press conference East Cleveland, Ohio mayor Gary Norton said one of Madison’s alleged victims was identified as Angela Deskins, 38, of Cleveland. Madison was also charged in the deaths of the two unidentified victims in an East Cleveland. After waiving his right to a preliminary hearing, his bond was set at $6 million.

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The three women, Norton said, “were killed senselessly by an individual with no regard for human life.”

A foul odor led authorities to the first body, which police found in a garage on Friday afternoon and soon apprehended Norton after a short standoff at his mother’s home. They later discovered the two other women near where the first body was found. Cuyahoga County medical examiner Thomas Gilson said each of the bodies were found decomposed, and Deskins was identified through fingerprint records.

Madison was sentenced to four years in prison in 2002 on an attempted rape charge and registered with the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office as a sex offender, according to court records. He was also convicted in 2001 on drug possession and trafficking charges.

The discovery of the bodies is the latest in a trend of violent crimes against women in the Cleveland area that have made international headlines in recent years. The most glaring is that of serial killer Anthony Sowell, who was convicted of killing 11 women and was sentenced to death in 2011.

The most recent case is that of Ariel Castro,  53, who is accused of kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and holding captive three Cleveland women over a 10-year period until they escaped in May. Castro pleaded not guilty to 977 counts. Jury selection in his trial is set to begin next month.

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